Meet the family
by Wetstar
Summary: Katniss has to go on the Victory Tour with Peeta after the 74th Hunger Games. While in District 1, she meets someone she hadn't expected to meet, who sends her on a guilt trip and helps her see, maybe not ALL Careers are bad...
1. Take Center Stage

** This IS slightly AU, you'll see why in later chapters...**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Hunger Games. **

I fidget slightly as Peeta and I stand on the District 1 stage. I killed both their tributes. Dropped a tracker jacker nest on Glimmer, and shot the boy through the neck. The mayor's talking, and through my haze I hear him say a name. Marvel. The boy's name.

I glance quickly at Glimmer's family. Her parents seem upset over the loss of their daughter, and are tightly holding hands. My own hand suddenly seems to burn against Peeta's. It feels wrong to be faking something like this in front of two people who obviously love each other and are holding hands for moral support. Glimmer's little sister looks to be about fifteen, and has the same blonde hair and green eyes as her sister. It's like having a Mini-Glimmer looking at me, accusing me of killing her sister.

But that doesn't even come close to the horrible feeling in my gut that I get when I see Marvel's sister. I've been trying to avoid her eyes, but her accusing stare is too much. She's a young girl, only about ten at the most. She has the same light brown hair as her older brother, but her eyes are a different colour. Blue eyes, filled with hatred, sadness, anger and loss. The same emotions that she's probably been feeling for months now. Behind the little girl is a woman with dark, curly hair. Instead of looking at me like the girl is, her blue eyes stare down at her pregnant belly. I feel another wrench of guilt in my stomach as I wonder if he knew when he went into the arena. Beside the woman is a man who shares the same hair colour as his children. Unlike his wife and daughter, his eyes are green and bored. Almost as if he's bored by the ceremony itself.

Peeta's hand leaves mine as he steps forward to make his speech. He had allied briefly with the Careers, so he had decided he would talk about them during the ceremonies. I suddenly feel very exposed standing by myself. It's a relief when Peeta takes my hand again.

As we head back into the Justice Building, I wonder if he knew about their siblings. As soon as the doors close behind us, I ask.

Peeta nods. "Glimmer didn't talk about her sister much. Just said her name was Opal and that they weren't close. But if you were willing to listen, Marvel could talk about his siter for ages. It sounded like they were pretty close."

I try to ignore the knot of guilt in my stomach and hope I don't see the little girl again.


	2. Crystal Ryans

**This is where it starts getting AU, since Katniss doesn't meet the victors in the books. Hope you enjoy! And thank you Ecarg for reviewing ! :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own the Hunger Games, but I_ DO_ own Crystal Ryans, so don't steal her! *glares fiercly***

Effie's leading me around the room, introducing me to all the victors. I feel awkward smiling at them, wondering if they mentored Marvel and Glimmer. They all smile and greet me politely, but more than a few greetings have a certain coolness to them.

Effie leads me over to a group of three people. The first, a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a sleeveless blue dress, I recognize as Cashmere Ellyis. And the blond haired, blue eyed man beside her is her brother Gloss. And the third... The third person is the little girl. She's changed out of her skirt and blouse from the ceremony and into a knee length, spaghetti strap purple dress. Her light brown hair is mostly loose with one small braid in it, blue eyes showing no emotion as they meet my gray ones.

Effie smiles broadly at them all. "Katniss, this is Cashmere, Gloss, and... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know who you are," she tells the girl.

She crosses her arms. "My name's Crystal Ryans. My mother won the 49th Hunger Games and my brother was a tribute in the 74th Hunger Games."

Realization dawns on Effie's face. "Oh. Katniss, perhaps we should talk to someone else..." Effie starts to lead me away, but Crystal interrupts her.

"No, it's fine. I'll go." As she turns to leave, her hair swishes, revealing for just a few seconds, a purple bruise on the back of her shoulder.

"How'd you get that bruise?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Crystal turns around again, eyes glancing rapidly around the room as if she's looking for an escape route. "What bruise?"

"The one on the back of your shoulder."

She glances around a bit more, before turning around and racing out into the hallway.


	3. You have to gain her trust

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed/followed this story! It means a lot! The young woman with the scars belongs to my friend Kate, who was kind enough to let me use her briefly in my story :) Thank you Kate you are finnicking amazing and deserve fifty donuts! (o)**

** Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, but I do own Crystal Ryans. DO NOT USE HER WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! You'll know if I gave you permission, and I know who I gave permission to, so if you use her without my permission, I will not be happy!**

I stand there blinking in shock while Crystal runs into the hallway. A multitude of questions are buzzing through my mind, the biggest one being, what was up with this little girl? Cashmere and Gloss also seem to be distress, trying to figure out if they should follow her or not. Eventually Cashmere decides she'll go, and leaves. Effie tries to pull me away to talk to someone new, but I stay. It's an odd mixture of the fact that the young woman she wants me to talk to has scars across her face and looks like she would like to stab me, but also of the fact that I really want to know what's wrong with Crystal. I turn to Gloss. "Do you know how she got that bruise?"

Gloss hesitates before saying. "Well, it's sort of a secret between friends. Crys told me once, after I pestered her for ages to tell me, but Marvel was determined to never tell anyone. If you want to know, you'll need her to trust you, and you'll have to be prepared to fail. I'm the only one she's ever told. Cashmere doesn't even know."

I frown. Getting her to trust me will be hard work, considering I shot her brother. But if I manage to convince her that I only did it because of the Games, she might trust me a bit more. I give Gloss a quick nod of thanks, and tell Effie that I'll be back soon, before heading towards the hall. I meet Cashmere as she's coming in. "Is she alright?"

Cashmere still seems very upset. "She won't tell me what's wrong. She hasn't always been like this you see. She's usually so happy and bouncy. But ever since her brother died, she's been more subdued. But then again, she never did tell us when something was wrong."

"Do you think I could talk to her?" I ask.

Cashmere frowns. "I'm not really sure. She doesn't like you too much. The whole killing her brother thing. But maybe she'll talk to you. It's worth a try."

She continues into the room, and I head down the hall to where Crystal is sitting on the ground. Her chin is resting on her knees, and she's staring straight ahead at the wall. "Are you alright?"

She glances up. "Got an arrow for me?"

I wince. The anger and despise is obvious in her voice. This little girl absolutely hates me. How will I ever be able to earn her trust?


	4. A bit of a surprise

**This chapter is a little shorter than the other ones(what am I saying? They're all short! XD), but I want to see people's reactions, and the next chapter will be probably quite a bit longer, with Crystal explaining everything. Hope you like it :)**

** Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. But I do own Crystal. As always, ask my permission before using her, AND ONLY USE HER IF I GIVE PERMISSION! I don't think anyone will steal her, but she is my favourite OC and I've spent MONTHS making her. **

"Well Everdeen? You mute or something?" Crystal asks.

I take a deep breath. This was going to be harder than I thought. I remember Gloss' advice, and decide to get my biggest barrier out of the way first. "Look... I'm sorry about your brother."

Crystal whips her head around to look at me. "He had a name you know! But of course, to you he didn't! I'm not stupid! I heard you at the feast! To you he's just 'District One', some guy you shot through the neck! Well to me, he was my brother and only protector! And unless you get that through that thick head of yours, then you can just leave now!"

I wince. Everything she said was true. I didn't know his name until earlier today, and I never really thought about what he could have been leaving behind when he died. But one thing she said stands out to me. "How was he your protector?"

She glares at me. "Do you really want to know?"

I nod. "I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to."

She pulls her hair to the side and leans forward a bit, once again revealing the purple bruise. "My dad gave that to me."

"Your dad?!" I've heard of this type of abuse before, Peeta's had it done to him, but I never would have thought it would happen in District One, of all places.

Crystal scowls. "Surprised?"

I nod. Of course I am.

''Good. Now do you want to hear about this or not?"


	5. Crystal's story

**Sooo... How was that for a shock last chapter? Or could the three(wonderful lovely) people who read this story see that coming? Please review guys! I don't bite :) And to those of you who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! **

I don't know what to do. I want to help this girl, but at the same time, I don't want to know about the life of the boy I killed. I suppose the only thing to do is suck it up and nod.

Crystal takes a deep breath before starting her story.

"As I told you before, my mom's a victor. She won the 49th Hunger Games. She married my dad, and had Marvel. She had never really... planned... on having anymore kids. Didn't trust herself enough. But Dad got annoyed with Marv when he didn't want to do the training. But of course, training's mandatory here, so he had to anyways. But Dad kept getting annoyed, and he started to beat Marv. Eventually he decided that he wanted a replacement for if Marvel didn't go into the Games. That's where I came in.

They had me as a sort of... replacement. Mom didn't want to, but Dad made her. When I turned six and headed off to the Academy, Dad was pleased. But... I didn't like the training either. So Dad beat me as well. Marv tried to protect me from it as much as he could, but he couldn't do it all the time.

One time, he came home late from training and Dad was beating me. He told him to stop, and Dad started hitting him instead. He beat him until he was unconscious. Marvel went to the hospital after that. Dad... Dad gave him brain damage. It was very minor though, so he didn't have to change his life style. But if he ever lost a lot of blood, he would start rambling, sometimes he would even have hallucinations.

After Marvel died in the Games, Dad forced Mom to have a third kid. They'll be born in a few months. It's going to be a girl. They're going to call her Honor. But she's just a replacement. A replacement for my dead brother."

By the time Crystal finishes her story, she is in tears, and I have no clue what to do next. This girl had just told me some of the most personal things that I will probably ever hear in my life. And she should hate me. I killed her brother, and he had already had such a terrible life, he hadn't deserved that. And Crystal. She has gone through so much in her ten years, she didn't deserve to watch her brother die. The only thing I can think of to say is "I'm sorry."

Crystal glances up at me in surprise. "Wha-what?"

"I'm sorry." I repeat.

"But... You hate me, and people like me. Careers. Why?"

"Because I feel bad. I lost a parent when I was younger, but I could never imagine what it would be like to have one of them beat you."

Crystal shrugs. "You get used to it after a while."

"But... You shouldn't be. Don't you know that this shouldn't happen?"

She scowls at me. "Of course I know that. I'm not stupid. But it's not changing anytime soon, so what can I do about it?"

"What if I could do something about it?"


End file.
